I own a property to being married and I'm going to lose that…

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I own a property to...

I own a property to being married and I'm going to lose that property to foreclosure or short sale.My wife bought a property after we were married and refinanced her other home to pay for that property, that we live in and both our names are ***** ***** property.Can the lien holder on my house file claim to the property we live in?

Experience: 32 years of experience as lawyer in Texas. I'm also a Real Estate developer.

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Good evening. My name is ***** ***** I look forward to helping you.

No, the lienholder cannot pursue you or your other property. California is a non-deficiency state. Under CA’s statute, deficiency judgments cannot be entered for foreclosures by private sale or on purchase money mortgages. A lender cannot get a deficiency judgment if it forecloses by private sale or if the underlying loan was a purchase-money loan. In other words, if you obtained a mortgage to purchase a home in California, you have no personal liability for any amount remaining unpaid after a foreclosure sale. That keeps your other assets safe.

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Customer reply replied 2 years ago

my prior home was refinanced and has a small second mortgage on the property, is your answer the same?

Thanks for following up. It depends. If it was refinanced on or after January 1, 2013 the lender would not be able to get a deficiency judgment as long as you didn't take refinance for more than the original loan. Even then, it's still not likely the lender would pursue a deficiency. The reason is that CA is a single-action state meaning that in order to pursue this the lender would have to pursue a judicial foreclosure. The reality is that though they could legally pursue you for the shortfall, lenders do not pursue foreclosures in this manner; rather, to save the time and expense, almost all lenders pursue a non-judicial foreclosure by simply pursuing foreclosure under their deed of trust giving them the lien rather than going through the courts. The second mortgage doesn't apply and the lender could pursue you for this. I'm sorry!

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DISCLAIMER: Answers from Experts on JustAnswer are not substitutes for the advice of an attorney. JustAnswer is a public forum and questions and responses are not private or confidential or protected by the attorney-client privilege. The Expert above is not your attorney, and the response above is not legal advice. You should not read this response to propose specific action or address specific circumstances, but only to give you a sense of general principles of law that might affect the situation you describe. Application of these general principles to particular circumstances must be done by a lawyer who has spoken with you in confidence, learned all relevant information, and explored various options. Before acting on these general principles, you should hire a lawyer licensed to practice law in the jurisdiction to which your question pertains.

The responses above are from individual Experts, not JustAnswer. The site and services are provided “as is”. To view the verified credential of an Expert, click on the “Verified” symbol in the Expert’s profile. This site is not for emergency questions which should be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals. Please carefully read the Terms of Service (last updated February 8, 2012).